Megyn Kelly Spanks Piers Morgan in Total Viewers — But Rachel Maddow Wins Demo

Fox News’ ‘The Kelly File’ debut trumps CNN and MSNBC in total viewers, but loses demo to “The Rachel Maddow Show” in 9 p.m. timeslot

Megyn Kelly’s primetime show on Fox News got off to a strong start on Monday, more than tripling the total viewership of its CNN timeslot rival “Piers Morgan Tonight,” according to preliminary numbers.

“The Kelly File” also topped “The Rachel Maddow Show” in total viewers, although Maddow’s show bested Kelly’s new offering in the key demo.

It, along with the debut airing of Shepard Smith’s new Fox News show, improved the third-quarter averages of respective timeslot predecessors.

Also read: Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, Shepard Smith Debuts Feature Giant iPads, Ted Cruz and Bob Beckel’s Sex Life

At 9 p.m., “The Kelly File,” hosted by the former “America Live” host, nabbed 2.07 million total viewers, with 289,264 in the key demo. The new primetime offering beat out its cable news competitors’ total audiences combined; CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” managed 529,946 total viewers, with 144,602 in the demo; and the MSNBC offering “Rachel Maddow Show” garnered 977,466 total viewers. Maddow’s show drew 298,543 viewers in the demo.

“Shepard Smith Reporting” bowed at 3 p.m., drawing 1.44 million total viewers, with 250,000 in the key 25-54 news demo. That’s compared to CNN’s “Newsroom,” which pulled in 511,167 total viewers, and MSNBC’s “The Cycle,” which had 346,510 total viewers. (In the demo, “Newsroom” had 123,587 viewers, while “The Cycle” drew 84,435.)

Fox’s newly expanded primetime, which runs from 7 to 11 p.m., improved over the third quarter of 2013 by 15 percent in total viewers and 6 percent in the demo, with 2,027,000 total viewers and 329,000 in the demo.

Comments